Niinistö, Xi meet winter sports athletes in Helsinki

President Sauli Niinistö and his visiting Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping met skaters' representatives from the two countries here Wednesday evening, with both sides pledging to enhance cooperation in winter sports.

The athletes just attended the World Figure Skating Championships 2017, which ran from March 29 to April 2 in Helsinki, Finland.

Xi congratulated Finland on hosting a successful sporting event and commended the athletes for their outstanding performance.

He noted that sports exchange is an important bridge in promoting the China-Finland friendship, saying that China has a lot to learn from Finland as the Nordic country excels in winter sports.

The two countries should take the opportunity of Beijing hosting the 2022 Winter Olympic Games to strengthen exchanges and cooperation in winter sports, thus promoting their respective sports development as well as the health of both peoples.

Niinistö said that Finland is willing to share experiences and deepen cooperation with China in winter sports and games preparations.

He added that Finland supports China in hosting a successful Winter Olympics.

The Chinese duo of Sui Wenjing and Han Cong took gold in the pairs competitions at the just-concluded World Figure Skating Championships, while Jin Boyang of China won the men's singles bronze medal.